Judge throws out $85M award over California custody death

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out an $85 million lawsuit award over the death of a Southern California man who was beaten, hogtied and shocked with a stun gun by sheriff’s deputies in 2015. The judge said Wednesday that the March award by a jury in a civil rights lawsuit against San Diego County was “far out of proportion to the evidence” and ordered a new trial to decide the proper amount. The case involved the death of 32-year-old Lucky Phounsy after a confrontation with nearly a dozen sheriff’s deputies at a relative’s home in Santee. Family members said he was suffering a mental health crisis.